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Rachel Henning (1826–1914)

Auteur van The Letters of Rachel Henning

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Werken van Rachel Henning

The Letters of Rachel Henning (1952) 100 exemplaren

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Officiële naam
Henning, Rachel Biddulph
Geboortedatum
1826-04-29
Overlijdensdatum
1914-08-23
Graflocatie
Field of Mars Cemetery, Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
England
UK
Geboorteplaats
Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, UK
Plaats van overlijden
Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Woonplaatsen
Bulli, New South Wales, Australia
Queensland, Australia
Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Beroepen
letter writer
pioneer
Korte biografie
Rachel Henning was born in England to a clergyman and his wife. Her mother's death in 1845 left Rachel responsible for her siblings, which included three sisters and a brother, Biddulph. In 1853, he emigrated to Australia with his sister Annie. Rachel and her sister Amy followed a year later. The siblings lived together on a farm at Appin in New South Wales, then on the Bulli Mountain. Rachel returned to England in 1856, but went back out to Australia five years later and settled there permanently. In 1866, she married Deighton Taylor, Biddulph Henning's overseer, ten years her junior. Rachel loved flowers, music and poetry, which she sometimes wrote. Her frank, vivid letters, mainly addressed to her sister Etta in England, today provide a detailed account of pioneer life in 19th century Australia. They were first published in 1951-1952, and were collected and published in book form in 1963.

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A fantastic work, and perhaps the earliest Australian piece of writing that I find truly engaging. Henning was a British woman who lived in the Australian outback, and then the city, during the mid-19th century: a time when Australia was still defining itself as separate from the motherland, and when of course the role of women was still incredibly confining. Her writing is fascinating both for what she observes deliberately, and for the everyday touches that would have meant little to her, but give us an insight into the world at the time. Of course, being a woman also plays an important role in Henning's legacy: despite their underclass status, Australian women provide much of the fascinating writing between the 1850s and WWII, in part because of that status. They are able to observe, they write from a place of difference, and the story of how women survived is a powerful and poignant one.

These letters were published almost a century after being written, and were never intended for such publication, so they're inherently "natural" and not polished. This isn't a slight against them, but be aware. Still, in the fairly small ranks of important works of Aussie writing pre-Federation, this very much makes the cut.
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therebelprince | 1 andere bespreking | Oct 24, 2023 |
Letters by an English woman who came to Australia and learned to love the country
 
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GlenRalph | 1 andere bespreking | Aug 23, 2009 |

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Statistieken

Werken
1
Leden
100
Populariteit
#190,120
Waardering
4.2
Besprekingen
2
ISBNs
6

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